Leave Out All The Rest
by celestialstarynight
Summary: Skye knew he was HYRDA, but if he had meant anything he said to her, there was a chance she could get him to see the light. And she was going to take that chance
1. so if you're asking me

**AN: I made the ending happy... I think...**

"Where to?" Ward asked with a smile.

_He's faking. He doesn't mean it._

The words had been swirling around Skye's head, getting louder and louder.

"Before I tell you, I have one question," she said.

"Ask away."

"Did you mean what you said?"

"When?"

"When you said you wished you could stay there, with me, and pretend the world didn't exist?" Skye asked, looking right at him.

"I did."

"'_Did_' as in you meant it then but not now, or _'did'_ as in you meant it then and mean it now."

Ward returned her gaze.

"I will always want to forget the rest of the world, if it means I can spend more time with you," he answered honestly.

"Then do it."

"Huh?"

"Forget HYRDA, forget SHIELD, forget the team, forget the rest of the world, and let's just be us," Skye said.

"I thought 'us' was a strong word?"

"We're strong people. I think we can handle it," she said with a smirk.

Ward really wanted to say yes but-

"They'll find us," he practically whispered, closing his eyes.

Skye rested her hand on his cheek.

"We know how to hide. Please, Grant," she said.

The moment he saw her eyes, he knew he wouldn't be able to say no. He had fallen in love with her after all. So he kept his closed.

"Please. I don't care if you don't think you're a good man. You can start now. Look at me," Skye said.

His eyes opened.

"Please."

"I've been working for HYRDA."

"I know."

"I've killed SHIELD agents."

"I saw."

"How can you still trust me?"

"Because you need someone. Someone who's not going to manipulate you."

"You're manipulating me right now."

"Is it working?"

"Yes."

And with that final word, he captured her lips in his own. Skye pushed the thoughts of double agents from her mind and simply lost herself in the kiss.

**AN: please leave a review, I'll write more if people want me to. also published on my tumblr: thewolvesrunwild**


	2. i want you to know

**AN: holy shit guys, i was not expecting so much love, thank you all!  
****the power of love fixes everything! now if only that would work in the show...**

"We need to warn the team," Skye said. "If Garrett knows where they are-"

"He won't hesitate to kill them," Ward finished for her.

"I'll call Coulson."

It took her a minute to get him on a com.

"_Skye, where are you?_"

"Ward and I had to leave," she told him. "Fury's super secret base has been compromised."

_"What?! How?"_

Skye glanced at Ward briefly.

"It's complicated."

_"Skye, enough secrets."_

"Sorry, AC, it's a strictly need to know basis for this one. Ward and I are in the air. May left by foot shortly after you left," Skye continued.

_"May left? Why?"_

"Didn't see the reason in staying," Ward interjected.

_"Alright, Fitzsimmons and Triplet are packing. Where are you two headed?"_

"Don't know yet," Ward answered. "Skye?"

She looked down at the hard drive in her lap. There was no way she was going anywhere near the coordinates needed to unlock it. Ward may have agreed to forget the world, and HYDRA, for now, but that decision was going to bite them both in the ass. Skye only hoped it was later rather than sooner.

"Don't know yet. We'll contact you when we do, AC," she said.

_"Keep me posted."_

"Why didn't you tell him?"

"The last thing Coulson needs on his plate is worrying about me flying around with an ex-HYDRA agent."

"So where are we going?"

"Before I tell you, I have some questions."

"Okay."

"What's your real name?"

"Grant Ward."

"Where you honest about your family?"

"Left out my sister."

"What was your reason for joining HYRDA?"

Ward paused.

"Garret saved me. Got me away from my family. I owe him everything."

"He may have gotten you away from your harmful family, but he made you betray your real family," Skye said. "You don't owe him anything for that."

"I've been betraying them from the beginning."

"But didn't you think of them as your family?"

"Sometimes."

"Don't you want a family?"

"Sometimes."

_"Malinda May. Agent Malinda May, are you there?"_

Ward and Skye looked surprised at the transmitter. Skye picked it up.

"This is Agent Skye. Who's this?"

"This is Agent Romanoff."

**AN: ugh, so I'm trying to make Skye trust him yet keep in mind he killed Agent Koenig in cold blood... it's really hard to do .so, hope she's not too trusting, just more, trying to make him see the light. also, um Natasha is just a badass so... should she be allowed to stay? ****let me know what you think. **

**please leave a review :)**


	3. forget the wrong that i've done

**AN: sorry this took a while, but not to fear, this chapter is longer than the first two put together!**

_"This is Agent Romanoff. Are Agents May or Coulson with you?"_

Skye and Ward stared wide-eyed at the transmitter.

"Uh, no," Skye answered. "Coulson is with the rest of the team, and May and Coulson had a falling out so she left.

_"Who's your team?"_

"Currently, Couson, Agents Fitzsimmons and Triplet and Ward. And then me," Skye answered.

_"Alright. Let Phil know that Barton and I have a safe house in Alaska, and when he's got a plan for HYDRA, we're ready."_

"I'll pass on the message. You wouldn't mind telling us where it is, would you? Fury's secret base was compromised so we don't have a place to stay," Skye said. Ward looked at her like she was crazy.

_"You'll understand if I only tell Coulson."_

"Sure. I'll get him to contact you," Skye replied.

As soon as the transmission was cut off, Ward turned to Skye.

"Is there a reason for this?" he asked as he adjusted his course to Alaska.

"It's not that I don't trust you or anything, but there's no way you'll go back to HYDRA with Agent Romanoff and Barton around," Skye said with a smile.

She then contacted Coulson and told him about Romanoff. Twenty minutes later he called them back and gave them coordinates.

_"Ward's plane isn't going to get us there, so we're heading after May. Once we pick her up, we'll find a way to you,"_ Coulson told her. _"Anything you want to get off your chest before then?"_

"Nope," Skye said. "Phone calls are so impersonal."

_"Be safe."_

"You too."

They didn't have enough fuel to get them all the way there either, but it would be pretty close. Ward flicked the auto pilot on.

"Let's go spar," he suddenly said.

"What?"

"You're still mad at me. I can see that. So, you punch me around for a bit. We've got two hours to kill anyway," Ward said.

Skye looked at him for a moment before nodding. He was right. A part of her, a fairly large part actually, was still mad at him for stabbing the team in the back. The fact that he seemed to have turned around was helping that part go away, but there would probably always be a part of her that never fully forgave him for betraying them. Skye was upset with herself though, because she had forgiven his kills. She had forgiven the cold blooded murders, and she wasn't completely sure why. She had been feeling off since she had been shot, like her mind and body were changing slightly.

She was still wrapped in thought when they reached the cargo bay. She wasn't sure how she had managed to stop Ward's fist flying towards her face.

"Hey!"

"Just making sure you were there. Nice block."

Skye shoved his arm away.

"Yeah, well, most people would wave a hand in front of the other's face," she said.

Ward just shrugged and stated the lay the mats out. When he was done, he took a defensive stance.

"Alright. Go ahead."

Skye let him have it. He wasn't fighting back, and with every hit, she just kept getting angrier and angrier. He blocked most of her shots, but she managed to get a few good hits in. As her anger reached its peak, she let out a cry of rage and aimed a shot at is head, after feinting to the right.

It had been her left hand that made contact. She hadn't expected to do that much damage even if she hit, but Ward's head snapped back and he crashed into the wall behind him. He collapsed to the ground.

"Ward?" she asked after a moment.

He hadn't gotten up.

"Ward?"

She crouched in front of him and slapped his cheek a bit.

"Ward!"

Shit. She wasn't angry enough to kill him. She didn't think she'd ever be angry enough to kill anyone.

"Come on, Ward. You don't get out of this that easily," she said as she checked his breathing and pulse. Both were steady. "You've still got a lot of stuff to make up for."

He was out cold. Skye let out a huff as she decided what to do. She couldn't just leave him there. So she grabbed him under his armpits and attempted to drag him over to the stairs.

"Whoa," Skye vocalized her surprise as she stood up easily. "Either he's lighter than he looks or I'm stronger than I thought."

She deposited him on the couch and went to the kitchen to grab some food. It was about thirty minutes before Ward woke up.

"Skye?" he looked around confused.

"Hey, sleepy head," she said. "Sorry about that. I didn't think I was that angry at you."

"Why were you angry at me?"

"Seriously, Ward? After Garrett and HYDRA you're asking me that? How hard did you hit your head?"

"What does Garrett have to do with HYDRA?" Ward asked, genuine confusion on his face.

"He's in HYRDA. He's the Clairvoyant. You were his lapdog until I convinced you that being a Nazi was stupid," Skye explained. How could he not remember? Even if he lost the past few days, he should at least be attacking here to try and find out how she got her information.

Realization dawned on Ward's face.

"That's what he meant when he said there was a small team that I would want to be a part of. The small team was HYDRA. Garrett is HYDRA. Garrett wanted me to join HYDRA. And he just let me say no?"

"No, Ward. You did join HYRDA."

"What? No, I would never-"

"Remember, Grant! Remember what you did!"

Ward closed his eyes and it all came rushing back to him. Shooting Agent Hand and the others. Breaking into the Fridge. Killing Agent Koenig.

"Skye, I- I didn't want- I didn't- I'm sorry."

Skye didn't know what to say. If, if this wasn't an act, and Ward was telling the truth, he might have been the Ward she knew all along. Skye decided to hold onto that chance.

"It's going to be okay," she tells him as she sits down and puts her arm around her shoulder. "We'll figure out what happened."

"I'm sorry," he mumbled again.

"It will be okay," Skye assured him. "You remember where we're going, right?"

Ward nodded.

"I should probably go back to flying the plane," Ward said listlessly.

"Alright," Skye said as he got up. "Don't beat yourself up too much."

He didn't give any indication that he had heard her.

Skye sighed and went to her laptop. They wouldn't get a chance to be back in the air anytime soon after they landed, so she started decrypting the hard drive. As luck would have it, they were at just the right altitude and the decryption started as soon as she typed the command in.

Ward just sat in the cockpit trying to think of any relevant information he had on HYDRA. Garrett was trying to recreate the formula that kept Skye and Coulson alive. But he wasn't going to get anywhere without the hard drive that Skye had made. At least he hadn't accomplished his mission. What would make him turn his back on SHIELD like that? To turn his back on Coulson? The team? Skye? Why had he done it? Ward shook his head. Focus on the task at hand. Don't think about the past or future – only the present.

Ward was about ready to fall asleep when they finally reached a landing zone in the thick forest. But they still had almost fourteen miles to go to the safe house, so he just put on a jacket and grabbed his backpack. Skye, on the other hand, was bouncing around like a kid on a sugar high.

"How do you still have so much energy?" Ward asked.

"I actually don't feel that tired. Also, we're meeting two of the greatest agents SHIELD has ever known! So keep up," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him along.

"How can you be so cheerful?"

"Hey, I just found out that the guy I like didn't actually betray the people he worked with. How could that not brighten up anyone's day? Also, the hard drive with all our stuff is safe from HYDRA so two wins in one day," she replied.

Ward just nodded.

"Don't be so glum, robot," Skye said. "I told you we'd figure it out." She grabbed his hand instead of his arm and kept walking.

Three hours later they stopped to set up camp because it was getting dark. Ward set up the tent and was adding some camouflage when he noticed Skye had her laptop out.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to made sense out of Jemma's research on that stuff Coulson and I took. I've been feeling weird lately and wanted to see if it's a side effect or just the whole HYDRA thing."

"Weird? Weird how?" Ward asked, crossing over to her in full on protective mode.

"Well, when I gave you a concussion, or something like that, earlier, I was able to pick you up and bring you up the stairs to the couch. I mean, you're what? 180 pounds of muscle? And I'm 130 pound of girl so forgive me if I find lifting you easily as weird."

"Lots of women with your training could do that, if you have the right hold," Ward said.

"I don't think picking you up like you could lean on me and walk yourself up the stairs is the right hold."

Ward looked down thoughtfully. Suddenly he realized something.

"Wasn't Simmons' research on the hard drive?"

"Yeah, I undid the encryption while we were in the air."

"I thought it was GPS based."

"It is."

They were silent for a moment as Skye scrolled though the rather scarce notes.

"Come on, Skye. You need rest," Ward told her twenty minutes later.

Skye rolled her eyes but shut the laptop and headed into the tent. Ward went in a little after her and found her already lying down and snuggled under a sleeping bag. She had unzipped the two of them and lay one down for the bottom and one on top for a blanket. He paused.

"Come on, Ward," Skye said without opening her eyes. "Everyone knows you're a cuddler. No point in trying to hide it."

Ward got in next to her and was surprised when she turned her head into his chest.

"Night, Grant."

"Goodnight, Skye."

**AN: after this weeks episode I realized the only way I can redeem Ward was to go back to my old hope that he was a sleeper agent and didn't know what he was doing was wrong. So I guess Lorelei all over again... Anyway, due to most everyone saying Natasha should show up, she'll be in the next chapter, please tell me I didn't horribly mischaracterize her in her talk with Skye, cuz that's what I feel happened. Also this appears to be turning into a Skye origin story as well. Hope everyone's cool with that.**

**please leave a review :)**


	4. keep me in your memory

**AN: ugh, I shouldn't update twice in the same day. it gives you guys false expectations**

Skye felt like she could really get used to waking up in Grant's arms. Though as content as she was with her position, she knew they had to get moving. She moved away to wake up Ward but found him already awake.

"Hey," he said as greeting.

"Hey, yourself. How long have you been up?"

"Ten minutes? You looked pretty peaceful so I didn't want to wake you." He played with a stray piece of her hair.

"Well, I'm up now. Let's get moving."

They made a quick breakfast and then were on their way. They had been going for two hours when their radio picked up a call.

_"Skye? Ward? Are you there?"_

"Sure am, AC. What's up?"

_"May found some information on the TAHITI project."_

"May's back? That's great. What did she find?"

_"Skye, I'm so sorry."_

Ward and Skye stopped.

"Sir, what did May find?" Ward asked.

_"I was in charge of TAHITI. And everyone we tested it on went insane unless their memory of the procedure was whipped from their mind. Now, I'm not sure what your 0-4-8 status brings to the table, but Skye-"_

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Coulson," Skye cut him off. "I'm alive. We'll figure it all out. Plus I'm more worried about you at the moment. Ward and I are almost to Romanoff's safe house. You guys are still going to meet us there, right?"

_"Yes."_

"Good. We'll talk about it when the team is all together."

They signed off after that and continued to walk in silence.

"Skye?" Ward finally spoke.

"I'm fine."

She was anything but. She had been feeling weird lately, and forgiving Ward for killing innocents when she thought he was a willing HYDRA agent was definitely out of character for her. Not to mention her little bout of strength with Ward yesterday.

He just grabbed her hand as they kept walking.

Another two hours and they reached the coordinates that Coulson had gotten from Romanoff.

"So, do we throw something metal and hope a turret takes it out?" Skye asked jokingly.

"What?"

"Oh right, you weren't there. Coulson threw his badge and it got blown up."

_"I don't think anything going to be blown up today,"_ a woman's voice came from behind them. "_The entrance is in the cliff face to your right."_

Ward and Skye headed over to the rock and a part of it slid away to reveal and long corridor. As soon as they entered the door behind them shut. A woman with wavy red hair came walking down to meet them.

"Skye and Ward," she greeted. "Hate to say, but you and your team aren't in SHIELD's database.

"Had to erase us all," Skye explained.

"Coulson said so. Great job, by the way. Think you could do it for a friend of mine?" Natasha said with a small smile.

"Sure."

"Follow me," she said and then turned.

They walked down to corridor, which was really just an over-glorified tunnel, until they reached a metal door. Natasha typed in a pin to the keypad and the door opened. The place they entered looked like the front entrance of a house. There were stairs right in front of them, and two doorways on either side. Natasha led them through the left after they put their backpacks down.

"They're here," she called out to an unseen entity.

"I figured. Anyone I know?" the entity answered back.

The room looked like a normal family den. A man with blond hair was relaxing on a couch with his feet up and watching TV. He looked over at the new comers and did a double take with Skye. He then smiled at his partner.

"See, Nat. That's Budapest," he said, jerking his thumb at Skye.

"I still don't see how my analogy wasn't correct," she told him.

"You compared it to fighting Chinturi warriors."

"And?"

"In my experience, fourteen year old girls are easier to deal with than invading aliens," Clint told her.

"And in my experience, they aren't."

Clint just shook his head. "Hey Zina, how's life?"

"Have we met before?" Skye asked confused.

"Yes, _Zinaida_," Natasha said as she walked over to the couch, the last part was directed at Clint. She moved Clint's legs so she could sit down. When she did, he placed them back over her lap. "We guarded you in Budapest seven years ago," she continued, motioning for Skye and Ward to sit down.

"I've never been to Budapest," Skye stated.

"I'll remind you later," Clint promised. "First you tell me how my old SO is doing."

"But-"

"Coulson's good," Ward answered.

"A little upset about all the secrets, but good," Skye added, attempting to make a dig about Budapest. It was ignored.

"You were in the HUB when HYDRA came out, right? What happened?" Clint asked. He had been out of the country and was currently the least informed agent in the room.

"It was crazy. We didn't know who was HYRDA and who was SHIELD. Plus, one of our agents was inside," Skye said. She began to fill the others in on what had happened.

"Nothing to say, Ward?" Natasha asked.

"I- I don't remember most of what happened," Ward admitted.

"Do you think Garrett had you under before we went in?" Skye asked.

"Maybe?"

Clint and Natasha looked confused so Skye explained.

"He was being controlled by HYDRA until a little while ago. But I fixed him," Skye said.

"How?" Natasha asked.

"I hit him really hard on the head."

Natasha and Clint shared a smile.

"I've been told cognitive recalibration works wonders," Clint replied.

Skye nodded, not getting the reference. "That's about it with the Hub."

"I helped break into the Fridge, too," Ward added, "so Coulson will probably want us to track down everyone that got loose."

"Do you remember where HYDRA took everything?"

"Pretty sure. Garrett is trying to recreate the serum that kept Coulson and Skye alive, but he won't get far without our team's hard drive."

The two senior agents nodded.

"Nothing to do now but wait for Coulson, I guess," Clint said, leaning back on the couch and flicking the TV back on.

"Or," Skye said, snatching the remote from Clint and turning it off. "You could tell me about Budapest."

"Fine, Zina, since you can't bother to remember," he trailed off teasingly as he switched to a sitting position.

Natasha said something about medical attention and pulled Ward out of the room.

"I thought you called me 'Zinaida'."

"Nat's name was Zinaida. I like nicknames better so I went with Zina."

"So why don't I remember?"

"You were in a coma for a bit. You've got to remember a bit though, I mean, you're calling yourself 'Skye'. That's what Zinaida means in Russian."

"All I remember from being fourteen was being in a car crash as I was moving foster homes. _That_ put me in a coma. You're telling me I was really in Budapest?"

"Yup," Natasha said as she came back into the room. Ward looked a little scared of her, but sat down next to Skye without saying anything. "How much do you know about where you came from?"

"I know a village in China died to save me from something. And I'm an 0-8-4. That's it."

"Alright, listen up while we tell you the wonderful story of Clint, Nat, Zina and the Grand Budapest Kerfuffle," Clint said dramatically.

**AN: I'll be perfectly honest, I have no damn clue what I'm doing with this story, but hey, if you like this, check out my Avengers story Marvel High. It's got Skye and Ward in it~ (actually, not yet, I procrastinated writing that chapter by writing this one. but I'll get started now)**

**please leave a review and let me know if you like the direction this is going :)**


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